Friday, January 05, 2007

Technology

Have you ever stopped to think how dependent you are, we are, on technology? Can you go one day without an e-mail? Can you perform your job effectively without the internet? I can’t.

Right before Christmas our network underwent an overhaul. It was only supposed to take two days but turned into six. For a week we didn’t have computer access. Our phone lines were also down. What that meant was that on Christmas, we had no phone lines, no internet access. It was pretty painful.

Since then, we’ve had continuing problems with our connectivity. Some days we have internet connection in our offices, other days we don’t. When we have no connectivity in our offices, we might be lucky and have it on the MWR (morale, welfare and recreation) computers. Sometimes not.

When the phones did come back up, it was on one single MWR phone. Then they all came up but the connections were bad. I’ve had more dropped calls the last two weeks than I did the first four months being here. It’s really frustrating. Janae and I have taken to saying “I love you” right up front (actually, there’s nothing wrong with that and maybe that should be the standard) rather than waiting until the end of the phone call as we’ve been disconnected several times.

But you know what, I’m not complaining. I know it sounds like it but I’m really not. I can’t believe how lucky I am to live where I do under the conditions that I have. Is it an inconvenience not being able to send e-mails to my counterparts here in-country? Of course. Is it a pain not being able to communicate with my family on a daily basis? Absolutely. But you know what, the fact that when conditions are optimal I can instantly send a message to my wife is amazing. I can’t imagine having to wait months for a single letter like our forefathers had to do in past wars. As soon as my personal computer gets here, we’ll be able to see each other and talk to each other even though we’re thousands and thousands of miles away. How cool is that?